www.iFourWinns.com

I see a lot of you put DB651's in your boat - I can agree that they are a great performance/price speaker, but I can't deal with the grills, or lack there of. I could live with the look but there is no way the speakers would survive my 2 kids.

Are there any similar price/performance speakers that come with complete traditional grills? Is it possible to re-use the grills that are on the factory speakers, or are they specific to the driver?

Thanks!

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1969 Chris Craft Commander 47
1999 Four Winns 328 Vista - SOLD

Whether the originals will fit, will depend - but it would only be a coincidence if they did. The Clarion grills used around 2005 don't fit the DB651's. I had to drill new mounting holes for them.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I can live with drilling and screwing the covers on - will the covers fit over the arms that hold the DB651's tweeter?

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1969 Chris Craft Commander 47
1999 Four Winns 328 Vista - SOLD

I was not excited over the look of the DB651's... but they sure sound better then the sony crap that was in my boat. I'm thinking about adding 2 more and an amp.


The Alpine speakers get very good ratings, and look 100% better. Spec wise, they are below the 651's. If you care about sound, these won't sound as good... but I'm sure better then the crap four winns installed from the factory.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500SPSM600 ... ml?tp=3384

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1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

I'm not sure I understand the question, so I probably won't give the right answer. The screws go through the grille, through the speaker frame, and into the fiberglass deck. When comparing DB651's to the likely original Clarions, the dimensions between the screws - the "bolt circle" if you will - is different, so new holes have to be drilled in the deck.

If you're asking whether the Clarion grilles will clear the tweeters on the DB651's, I don't know - but I have doubts.

I personally think the DB651's look dramatically better than the Clarions or those Alpines, but that's a completely subjective thing. The 651's are waterproof though (or close enough).

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

The sea air is hard on speakers. Save your money and just get another set of Clarions.

You're going to have to replace them within 3 years anyway, regardless of the brand. So why spend a lot more money for not much improvement in sound? And have to deal with drilling new screw holes to mount them? No thanks.

I went that route for the same reason you mentioned: kids fingers. Open grilles are just asking for trouble. It's bad enough I'll have to replace them in a few years due to the elements. No way I want to have to deal with replacing them sooner because someone's little fingers poked them out. Either my boy's or a guest. Why open up the possibility of that happening?

Oh, and don't bother replacing them along with the separate tweeters. Just leave the current tweeter assemblies in place (to hide the hole) and ignore re-wiring them. Get the replacements without tweeters and you'll save additional cash. Given the horrible acoustics you get out on a boat it's pretty pointless to bother with the tweeters anyway.

Yes, the clarion speakers aren't great. But from a cost/benefit perspective they're a good compromise. Now, if someone made a direct drop-in replacement that had as durable a grille setup AND used the same mounting hole pattern I'd definitely consider getting them. But meanwhile the clarions are inexpensive and sound decent "enough" to keep using 'em.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Another thing to consider is depth. I know the same clarions will fit. The space behind the speakers in arch uprights is tight, but it's even tighter up in the top of the arch. Some brand speakers have a much deeper cone and magnet setup on them (which I'm sure speaks to their being able to produce better sound). This requires more mounting depth behind the surface. So check to be sure the replacements would even fit.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista